Jeremiah 7:22-23

7:22 Consider this: ¹  When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ²  “Obey me. If you do, I ³  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ⁴  and things will go well with you.”

Micah 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ⁵ 

He wants you to ⁶  promote ⁷  justice, to be faithful, ⁸ 

and to live obediently before ⁹  your God.

Matthew 11:29-30

11:29 Take my yoke ¹⁰  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

Matthew 11:1

11:1 When ¹¹  Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

Matthew 5:3

5:3 “Blessed ¹²  are the poor in spirit, ¹³  for the kingdom of heaven belongs ¹⁴  to them.

¹ tn Heb “For” but this introduces a long explanation about the relative importance of sacrifice and obedience.

² tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.

³ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

⁴ tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

⁵ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

⁶ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

⁷ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

⁸ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

⁹ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

¹⁰ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

¹¹ tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹² sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

¹³ sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

¹⁴ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.